samag35 - 2-10-2015 at 04:43 PM
Hey guys,
I am in the process of ordering an Oud from Fadi Matta and had some questions regarding the wood choices for the bowel. Its a 7-course floating bridge
like the one he built for Charbel Rouhana but I asked him to build it with 3 round holes with rosettes instead of the three oval holes. The type of
wood that he will be using to make the soundboard is white Canadian SPF which is the same type of wood that he used for Charbel's oud (according to
Fadi, this makes the oud sound more eastern "Sharqi") which is what I wanted. It also made sense because I heard the sound of some of his spruce ouds
and they sounded drastically different from Charbel's. My confusion starts with the wood type for the bowel, I know it is not suppose to make that big
of a difference as most of the sound is generated within the soundboard but i've read repeatedly on these forums that good quality walnut is the way
to go if one is looking for a more traditional Arabic sound. Due to this reason, I asked Fadi to switch the bowel construction from Rosewood to
Walnut. Fadi currently has 30 year old walnut (Thought to be Syrian) that he offered to use so I immediately agreed until I came across this thread:
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=8790#pid571...
Why is walnut not advisable for floating bridge bowels? Would greatly appreciate it if someone could shed some light on this. Thanks in advance!
Brian Prunka - 2-10-2015 at 05:17 PM
As far as I can tell, he is saying not to make the bridge out of Walnut. I don't see any problem with using walnut for the bowl, it is a very
traditional bowl wood for hundreds of years.
samag35 - 2-10-2015 at 05:50 PM
I see what you mean Brian I think I may have misinterpreted what Alioud was trying to say. Thank you yet again for all your help. I am so excited I
can't wait to hear what this oud will sound like. Will defintley be posting a sound sample 
SamirCanada - 2-11-2015 at 05:31 AM
Fadi makes regular bridge ouds too. why don't you go for that instead of floating bridge that the one real way to get that sharqi sound as far as I am
concerned.
samag35 - 2-11-2015 at 08:58 AM
I was initially looking to buy a fixed bridge but had a last minute change of heart after listening to Charbel's oud. For all I know I could be making
a big mistake. I agree that there is no substitute for a fixed bridge if one is looking for pure Sharqi sound but I thought I might be able to
compromise a little by going this way as floating bridges have their own merits to. Also I am not sure if he makes a 7 course fixed bridge but I could
be wrong..